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Monday, February 28, 2011

Visualize a series of objects. (1) Make a list first of 15 objects (nonliving or living), (2) then work through it, mental visualizing each object from multiple angles, and (3) see if you can determine a pattern in your own imaging ability. (4) Now add a motion or change to each object in your list (ie if you visualized your mother in first list, now visualize her breathing or sneezing or gasping), (5) visualize each and see if you can determine a pattern in your own imaging ability. (6) Post lists and answer to (7) questions on your blog

Are you better at visualizing people than objects? Or worse?
What seems to be mentally different?

Are you better at two-dimensional objects than three-dimensional? How so?

Where do you see your image?

Is it out in front of your eyes or back in your skull somewhere or somewhere else?

What is brought to bear in these instances is a keen sensitivity to a non-modular perceptivity of sense-data. Why might this be important in your field?

PART 2: your Story LINE

LISTS from your story line (most current). Make a list for each type of sensation referenced in your story LINE.

Sight

Sound

Smell

Touch

Taste

Balance (equilibrioception)

Temperature (thermoception)

Pain

Pressure

Motion and acceleration (kinaesthesia)

Direction (magnetoception)

Temporal (sense of time)

Make an additional list recording all types of emotions or mood referenced in your story line.

Post lists to blog and bring hard copy to class Wednesday

PART 3: MAKE STUFF!

Choose 3 items from any of you story lists and translate each into 3 distinct mark drawings (= 9 drawings) representing your story's sensation/mood/emotion. You should spend a minimum of 10 minutes per drawing, recommend 15-20 per drawing (between 2 – 3 hours on your drawings). You may use any technique and material we’ve done and used in class or as homework. From your blog posts the charcoal ghost drawings with significant erasures seem strong and interesting.

Goal is tearing the language based sense reference out of its habitual context (thus achieving) by translating it tactilely into a visual reference creating a heightened awareness of sensory texture relevant to your story for the viewer.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Download the BLOG check list this weekend and confirm your blog is up to date. Complete for Monday.

Write ups will be graded (letter grade). Each write up should include a process image or final image. All completed projects should have a final image(s) posted.

All other posts should include images with explanation of pictures.

You can put your posts loosely in the correct order by back dating them. In Edit Post in bottom left corner click Post Options then select new date. Post don't have to be in exact order, but close would be nice.

Before Monday morning you should post your revision or your rewrite to your blog. If you've emailed me your original or revised for privacy, please make a blog post for each titled either Story LINE and Revised/Rewritten Story Line and then in body just note that you submitted by email.

I am interested in having a handful of you read your story LINEs aloud on Monday. If you are interested in doing so, please email me to say YES and include a copy of what you intend to read.

If you want to read yours, consider and PRACTICE the following use of

Space (positive=talking; negative=silence [pauses])

Value (voice volume and force)

Contrast (variation in space and value)

Rhythm

Direction or movement (voice modulation???)

These items are used to create interest, tension and focal points with the reading. Use of space, particularly negative space, is one of the most important features of storytelling. Consider laying out your text in a way that lets you know when to put in your silence (breaks in lines, long spaces, etc). This will help you read it the way you intend even when you get nervous up front.

LECTURE blog reminder

Your mapping lists should already be posted, if not get them up before Monday.
If you are sending them directly to me via email, make a post title Mapping lists and then write emailed.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

For your artful mapping pleasure I have updated handout so it is less confusing. Hopefully. Must have because many of you are putting up good lists. Those lost, visit your fellow WASHers' blogs and check out what they are writing (listing) about.

1. Significant peers [why?] both positive/negative
2. Significant adults [why?] both p/n
3. Significant things said to you that you can almost still hear in your head. Both p/n
4. Significant objects [why?]
5. Significant cause [why?]

Experiences of loss or absence
Experiences of joy or belongingCareer

1. Significant peers [why?] both positive/negative
2. Significant adults [why?] both p/n
3. Significant things said to you that you can almost still hear in your head. Both p/n
4. Significant objects [why?]
5. Significant cause [why?]

Spiritual evolution/path. Changes over time? [why? who influenced changes?]Sexuality or gender evolution/path or relationship to the bodyAchievementsPain or crisis or lossesDreams, hopes or desires
Other threads to possibly also explore in terms of the evolution of these things in your life
1. Character
2. Limitations
3. Passion
4. Strengths
5. Abilities and competencies
6. Fears
7. Calling
8. Understanding of people
9. Understanding of culture
10. Understanding of heritage
11. Ancestral heritage
12. Materialism
13. Goals
14. Why do you want to be an artist, animator, designer
(when did that desire begin; what fanned the flame and kept it going)
15. Within your field what specific things are you interested in?
(when did the desire or compulsion begin; what fanned the flame and kept it going)
Are these changing? How so?
16. Personal narrative, quotes, journal entries, poetry, song lyrics, etc

Step TWO

Create some experimental diagrams of information from lists--possible directions of diagrams: chronological, relational, geographical, spiritual, educational, ancestral. Try to overlay all info within each system tested

Incorporate or reference visual methods or source inspirations, quotes, subject matter, etc from two to three artists we’ve studied in class or in textbook (includes all artists covered to date) that inspire you into your map. Note either in the piece itself or on back the artists you are referencing and how so. Artist list is at end of this section.

1. Post 3 images of project (one of whole and two detail shots); if it still in listing stage post all lists.
before Friday, Feb 25

2. Post 3 [more] images of project (one of whole and two detail shots) and a short narrative about what method you are using to execute this project and why you’ve chosen it before Friday, March 4

3. Post 3 [more] images of project that shows your progression from Friday, March 4. Post before
Friday, March 11

4. Actual art object DUE Monday, March21/Tuesday, March 2. Bring to Studio at 9:30 am. If it needs set up, set up the night before in WASH House.

Note this is an actual assemblage created in real space whether 2d or 3d art object based on mapping personal history; it is not a virtual structure or simply a print out of a structure created in the computer.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Three drawings for three distinct pieces of music (total= 9 drawings)
Listen to music and repetitively use a gesture that suggests the mood of the music (repeat gesture for 5 minutes). You may also want to experiment with repetitive smudging along with the marks. Minimum size 11x13.

NorthI abandon the house and head for the field,Where the grass has grown too tall to cut.Towering above the grass is a lone pine, whose trunk is like a silo.The smell of diesel drifts through the air as I pass the tool shed.I reach the fence and carefully grab between its barbs.As I push down, the staples growl until I release them back into silence.I walk down to Bell's pond where cows wade in the dark water.They don't seem to mind the rocks skipping past them.

EastI abandon the house and head for the pines.Slipping through lines of spindled rustI enter a new world that smells like sap.Spiders stitch webs in fallen needlesAnd crows lay eggs in broken tree tops.I run through the corridors of cedar saplings And leap across a shallow creek with steep embankments.

SouthI abandon the house and head for the pond,With a friend and a boat in tow.We have trouble getting it over the fence,And end up having to toss it.Carrying it through briers and honeysuckle bushesWe make our way down to the pond.The instability is apparent as we watch the boatRock violently in the muddy water.Heedless to its warnings, we grab sticksto use as paddles, and climb aboard.Blinded by a false sense of braveryWe push off from land and begin to paddle.Grins sweep our facesUntil the boat topples us into the water.

WestI abandon the house and head for the fort.I jump the fence in the corner of the yardWhere the thick posts provide good footing.The ladder shakes as I hurry up its rungs.I sit down in the fort's cedar belly,Surrounded by names and sayings carved into its sides.My pellet gun rests against the wall as I scan the surrounding trees.A pine cone at the end of a branch comes into view and I put a pellet in the chamber.I raise the gun and find the cone with the scope.Holding my breath, I squeeze the trigger, and watch the pine cone fall to the forest floor.The wobbling branch sends birds from their nests.They are too simple to know I would never harm them.

MATERIALS (for Monday)
ink, lots of paper, cup or large mouth object for ink, a large assortment of non art objects to dip in ink, funnel if you already have one

Bring all drawings to class

DOCUMENT
HW 2/21 on blog
HW 2/23 on blog
Story LINE rewrite

3D—Monologue pre-Friday homework

READ/RESEARCH
Complete lists from lecture on mapping and use as source material for developing MONOLOGUE IDEAS…before FRIDAY

shoot 3 of each (totaling 6)
upload to an account you create for yourself with www.youtube.com
email me the url for each video (in one email) before Monday
you may have to setup an account but you should be able to do this via your blogger/google login and password (I did)
embed all six in one post on your blog

Burn all six to cd or dvd; write your name, WASH Spring 2011 and Monologue with sharpie

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Review and respond (download handout) to each of the following in regards to your project and process. Post your responses and an image (may be process image) to your blog before Wednesday, February 23, 9 am. Choose three major categories to present to class (limit self to 3 minutes). Quickly tell us why you choose these three? Then present the three. BE SPECIFIC.

MATERIALS

Sensitive use of materials: does the form of the overall piece respond to or resonate with the objects chosen as modules?

Could the piece be made from another object just as well, or is there precise/necessary correspondence between the objects and the structure?

Explain any material difficulties in usage?

Meaningful discoveries?

PROCESS/AMBITIOUSNESS

Does the piece rise above the ordinary in terms of scale, materials or effort?

How did the piece change from initial mental imaginings to final piece?

Was the initial idea or final piece more ambitious? How so?

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Is the way the piece put together helping the overall effect or distracting from it (How so?)

FORM

What are the dominant formal elements (point, line, shape, color, texture, value, space) visible in the work? Are these elements important to the piece? In what ways?

What are the dominating principles (scale, hierarchy, repetition, rhythm, unity, contrast, balance, space, gravity, continuance, similarity/difference) visible or implied in the work? Explain how each dominating principle helps strengthen the impression of the work or detracts.

CONCEPT

Does piece relate to the source objects history, function or purpose?

If so, how?

How does the presentation of the piece alter the viewers understanding of the source object?

PRESENTATION

Why here?

What is the relationship of the work to the space?

How do the surrounding elements impact the viewing and impression of the piece?

CONCEPT...
What are the dominating principles (scale, hierarchy, repetition, rhythm, unity, contrast, balance, space, gravity, continuance, similarity/difference) visible or implied in the work? Explain how each dominating principle helps strengthen the impression of the work or detracts.

The main dominating principles found in my piece are repetition, contrast, and continuance. The repetition found in the piece comes from the cups following each other in sequence. This also runs into the continuance, which can be seen in the way the cups flow in one direction and in relation to the other lines of cpus around it. There can also be contrast seen in the variation between the white space found on the edge of the cups and the vibrant red colors. This strengthens the piece overall by keeping the viewers eyes locked onto the object.

CONCEPT
Does piece relate to the source objects history, function or purpose? If so, how?
The piece relates to the objects function in the way that instead of a liquid coming out of the cup like would normally occur there is instead a procession of cups coming out.

How does the presentation of the piece alter the viewers understanding of the source object?
It creates the sense that the cups are alive rather than an inanimate object through the placement of the cups in a flowing way.

not only does Chinny have both her (2) human comps and (2) b&w source comps posted but her crit write up covers the areas I requested. Chinny's post is worth reading as a sample of a WOW "A" write up sample. These write ups and images are part of what determines your blog grade. the crit handout is posted in downloads column if you need to review what is requested on this write up. Well done Chinny!

HERE IS A SNIPET from her blog.

This is how we critiqued ourselves:
Selection/Revision: It was really weird, but very cool how easily we could pick out the best compositions to portray from each table member. There were microscopic differences, but those were solved so quick that they barely even happened. After shooting, we reviewed each others photos, asked who wanted to redo and then went back out and did just that, brainstorming again if we got stuck.

Theme/Human Element: Through a group brainstorm we decided to use emotion, but since we planned to use the boxes on our heads our table needed to channel our inner "Tyra" and speak with our bodies. A somewhat difficult task, but we performed it very well. Only on two compositions, we felt we lost our emotional element. Because of that we gave ourselves a 4. Maggie was a keystone in creative solutions, I thank her on behalf of the table.

Reminder on absences and tardies.
Three absences and grade is negatively impacted.
Six absences and you fail (excused or unexcused).
Tardies equal 1/2 absences.
A "D" in any of the three sections of WASH results in having to RE-take all three sections AGAIN!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Choose one of the 4 themes below and write about YOU AND LINE (visually, auditorally, tactility, literary, relationally, socially, politically, territorially, physically, metaphysically, spiritually, etc”ly”)

CROSSING THE LINE
Choose one memory from your life that involves crossing a line
and tells us that story. Post to your blog.

STAYING IN LINE
Choose one memory from your life that involves staying in line
and tell us that story. Post to your blog.

AN IMAGINARY LINE
Write about an imaginary line you hold in your mind for some reason. Post to your blog.

AN OBSERVED LINE
From a photo you have shot of some type of line,
write a story real or fabricated about this line and this photo
and your relationship to it.

This is a short story, real or mostly real, serious or humorous, hard truth or slightly altered truth, mundane or wildly adventurous, safe or scary.

Consider writing it in a way that would not bore you (or me)—a children’s story, fable, fairytale, journal excerpt, song, poem, comic strip, sci-fi, end of world, storyboard, as a description a story embedded in a painting, newspaper article, news story, history book excerpt, letter, prayer, etc.

Don’t forget some degree of tension – whether taught or a balancing of tension, include it.

The theme is LINE and it should relate to YOU and your experiences or mental ponderings that already exist!

Story due Monday prior to 9 am—posted to blog
Story due Monday at 9:30 am—bring 6 printouts of post

INDEPENDENT Photo Shoot

go for a walk and shoot a series of photos of observed LINE

take multiple photos of each instance at different angles, distances, and image framing

post best 5 to blog (prints due a week from Monday)

post additional image most relevant (even if abstractly relevant) along with your short story

Table seven's (Hannah, Ollie, Alexandra, Dante, [a little extra help from table 1, Wendy], Katie, and David) second try because the first try...well kind of duded. This is were seconds become firsts. Thanks for making this project easy to grade and funny!

First a brief history about popsicle sticks. They were invented by an eleven year old named Frank Epperson in 1905. So they're more than a hundred years old! Before they were "popsicle" sticks, they were "Epsicle" sticks. Epperson came by the idea on accident during a cold winter season. He had left his fruit flavored soda outside on the porch with a stir stick in it, but when it had frozen over and he tasted it, he thought it was a delicious treat. From there it took him 18 years to develop the idea of frozen ice on a stick. Soon it was named Epsicle Ice Pop. Later his children renamed it Popsicle as we know it today. He sold his Popsicle idea to the Joe Lowe Company of New York and Good Humor now owns the "Popsicle Rights."(I got my information from: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpopsicle.htm)

So anyway, here are a few things I came up with while "playing" with my object(s). We had TONS of fun!

WASH

2D :: This studio course introduces the studio arts, contemporary art history, theory and technology to the incoming student. It is designed to immerse students in an intense program of researching, interpreting and creating art in the twenty-first century. ART 130 emphasizes the 2-Dimensional Arts but pushes into the 3rd and 4th as well. Its companion courses, ART 131 and ART 132W, support this studio course with lectures, readings, visiting artists and demonstrations.

3D :: This studio course introduces the studio arts, contemporary art history, theory and technology to the incoming student. It is designed to immerse students in an intense program of researching, interpreting and creating art in the twenty-first century. ART 131 emphasizes the 3-Dimensional Arts as well as pushing into the 4th Dimension.

Lecture :: This course introduces the concepts, theories and information for development in ART 130 and ART131, the studio components linked with this visual arts foundation course. It is an arena for students to experience lectures, demonstrations, seminar activities and visiting speakers, as well as the more traditional aspects of the discipline. It is geared towards contemporary visual concerns and uses experimental techniques to expose students to an array of styles and methodologies.